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Everyone was getting ready to form teams. Today was one of those days when the nature-haters would decide to skip. After all, whose idea was it to go camping? Leaving groups of teenagers alone in the forest for a day... it was already hard enough to tolerate Umiri, now having to deal with her among the trees? It seemed the teacher was practically suggesting Taki kill Umiri in her sleep.
Groups began to form, three or four people each, already discussing how "fun and magical" it would be to be in an isolated forest with no way to call for help. Yes, right, very exciting. That's what Taki thought and grumbled to herself.
Amidst the crowd, a blonde girl carefully made her way through, unaware that the gathering was just mustering the courage to ask her to join their groups. But she walked straight past them and headed towards Taki and Umiri, who, by chance, were still pondering whether they would actually go on this "Magical and Fun Forest Expedition" – that's what they had decided to call it. Uika positioned herself in front of the two, maintaining a slightly forced smile while squeezing her own arm tightly.
"Hm... ann... Umiri-chan..." she called hesitantly, immediately drawing the brunette's gaze. Her blue eyes, beautiful and intimidating, seemed to completely engulf her. Swallowing hard, Uika continued:
"Well... can I be part..."
"Yes." Umiri cut her off dryly.
Uika stood still for a moment, as if she hadn't understood. Not even Taki seemed to have grasped what Umiri had said. Then, Umiri smiled and placed a hand on Uika's shoulder, as if they had been friends for centuries, shaking her head in a gesture that was supposed to look cool. Well, in a way, it even worked. Around them, several students sighed in frustration for having missed the chance to group with Misumi Uika. Taki was already starting to regret having agreed to be in Umiri's group. As for Uika? She was beaming with joy at having been accepted!
___
Two hours of bus travel later, they finally arrived at the forest. The twenty signs warning that there were no bears in the area relieved some of Taki's stress. As soon as she got off the bus, Uika was immediately surrounded by other girls trying to recruit her for their groups. Shameless enough? Definitely.
Taki wouldn't get involved. She wasn't close to Uika; they barely interacted. So, it made sense to let her decide. Well... recently, Uika had given Taki a drink. A kind gesture. She also started wishing her good morning when they met, somewhat reminiscent of Soyo and Sakiko's refined way with their silly greetings. For Taki, it was an unusual change, at the very least.
Before those girls could persuade Uika, Umiri intervened, grabbing her arm and pulling her close.
"I'm sorry, Misumi-san is already ours." she declared, her heavy gaze falling on the other girls, who recoiled, not understanding what had just happened.
Soon after, Umiri let out a low laugh, as if she had just remembered some inside joke. Taki, meanwhile, turned to watch the bus, which was already starting to leave and drive away. There went her last chance to return to the comfort of her home, far from the possibility of hitting her head on a tree trunk. Uika, however, seemed even more excited for some reason.
"Alright, let's go before I bury myself alive." Taki grumbled, walking ahead. Umiri and Uika ran to catch up.
___
One of the most essential things in a campsite, besides the tent, is the campfire. How to cook without fire? How to get warm? Luckily, the teacher brought some manuals for the teams teaching them how to make a campfire. The trio then went out to collect firewood.
Taki was breaking off some branches from the trees, mentally humming the beginning of Amanojaku, unaware that someone was approaching from behind.
"Hey..."
"AHHHH, UMIRI, YOU...!" Taki jumped, turning around with a pale face that quickly turned red. The brunette chuckled softly as she moved away to avoid some kind of assault. Taki scoffed, controlling the urge to curse, just clicking her tongue in irritation.
"If you do that again, I'm going to turn into a vengeful spirit and kill you, I guarantee it!" she threatened, pointing one of the branches at Umiri.
"You were so distracted, I couldn't resist. It reminded me of those horror movies about forests and monsters and witches." Umiri commented.
"What the hell kind of movie is that you're watching?"
"You've never seen them? They're quite popular. There's always some humanoid monster in a dark forest, and when you least expect it, boom, you're cursed and your friend's possessed..."
"Girls."
Before Umiri could finish her explanation, someone approached. Umiri leaped forward, grabbing Taki, making the twigs fall to the ground. Uika looked at the two while maintaining a calm smile.
"Ah... sorry, did I scare you?" she asked.
"Misumi-san! People usually give a warning before approaching!" Umiri complained.
"Hypocrite." Taki muttered, crouching to pick up the branches from the ground.
____
After gathering enough branches, they all gathered to try and light the campfire, using stones and some dry grass. The manual was supposed to have a lighter – or at least that's what everyone expected – but their attempts to light the fire kept failing.
"This rock is defective." Umiri murmured, trying, unsuccessfully, to make a spark.
Taki grumbled in frustration while Uika re-read the manual, looking for useful information.
"The defect is in the teacher who thought a camp would be a good idea." Taki muttered to herself, approaching Uika to peek at the manual.
"Well, while you two deal with that, I'm going to try and catch some fish." Umiri announced, throwing the rock for Taki to catch. She stood up from the log and snapped her fingers, trying to sound cool.
"WE HAVE DORITOS!" Taki retorted.
"Daddy's going hunting~" Umiri sang as she walked away.
Taki let out a few more curses before turning her attention back to the campfire, this time rubbing branches to try and generate fire. Obviously, without success. Come on, all those late nights watching survival shows can't have been in vain!
Meanwhile, unaware, Uika was murmuring some words to herself, feeling the silence around them become slightly uncomfortable.
"Humm... and... how's MyGo?"
Taki frowned.
"Huh? What?"
"Ahh... nothing..." Uika was freaking out. Of course she was. She had planned all sorts of possible conversations to make sure she could get along with Taki. But, obviously, this wasn't working. Deep down, she knew she was just an introvert who uses an extrovert's skin for survival. Talking to people like Sakiko, Mana, or even Nyamu was easy; but with someone like Mutsumi, she needed to mentally prepare before initiating any interaction. I can't ruin everything!
"...It's going well. And Ave Mujica?"
Taki looked away, avoiding eye contact.
She had heard. Now Uika was much more embarrassed. Congratulations, you did it. She mentally grumbled some advice Mana-chan had given her the week before last.
"Ah, it's going well." Uika smiled, even though Taki wasn't even paying attention to her face – or her.
"You've been popular lately."
It hurts Taki to admit this, but... maybe in the future her toothpaste would have Umiri stamped on it. I definitely don't want to be provoked by Umiri's face on my toothpaste... This, incredibly, was a recurring nightmare of hers. No judgment.
"I mean, you're even in karaoke now."
"Karaoke? Really? I didn't know that. I haven't been to karaoke in a long time."
This was a lie. Uika had never been to karaoke, but she didn't want to seem stranger than she already did.
Taki finally seemed to have her attention caught by the blonde.
"Hmm... It must be hard to make time for yourself."
Maybe Taki was rambling too much. Not even she knew. She just felt a little sorry, because being an idol seemed to suck. You hardly have any time for yourself. Now having two bands? Taki had heard from Umiri that having more than one band was a real challenge. She thanked the gods for only having MyGo. After all, MyGo was more than enough.
"So... Taki-chan..."
A scream completely cut off what Uika was about to say.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Taki recognized that scream. Obviously, Umiri had done something stupid and probably put herself in danger... or maybe she just had a splinter in her finger.
Quickly, Uika and Taki ran in the direction of the sound.
___
Upon reaching the lake, the scene was catastrophic: Umiri was in the water, flailing her arms as if she were drowning. I mean, she was drowning.
Taki froze for a second, then ran to rescue her friend.
"Umiri!" she shouted, jumping into the water and swimming against the current, like in an action movie scene – just a little more awkward.
When she finally reached her, Umiri clung to her like a buoy.
"TAKI!"
"HEY, WAIT A MINUTE, ARE WE BOTH GOING TO?! Hsjawjnwi—"
Umiri's weight dragged Taki down, and now both of them looked like they had come out of a cartoon.
What was going through Taki's mind at that moment was that she should have stayed home and called Tomori to the zoo. Meanwhile, Umiri thought that dying in such a ridiculous way could tarnish Ave Mujica's image.
"...Girls."
Uika approached – but, unlike them, walking through the water, which only reached her shoulders. The instant Taki and Umiri realized that Uika was having no difficulty, both immediately let go.
"Well... The manual said the lake wasn't that deep." Uika tried to smooth over the situation, failing miserably.
"Ahh... That was written there?!"
"I'm. Going. To. Kill. You."
Taki held Umiri's head and pushed her into the water. The brunette struggled against the attempted homicide, until the sound of laughter interrupted everything.
Hahaha.
"S-sorry, you can continue."
Uika wiped a tear from the corners of her eyes, laughing the laugh she had held back all morning.
Umiri spat out some water when she was finally released from Taki's arms – who, at the moment, was red as a pepper.
____
They were all inside the tent – no fish, no campfire – just wrapped in blankets, hoping at most to just catch a cold.
"I hope I catch a cold and can miss a week of school." Umiri murmured, snuggling even deeper into the blanket.
"I want a month." Taki grumbled, her voice hoarse after a whole day of yelling. Who knew?
Uika smiled and let out a low laugh.
"It was fun." she said, reflecting on the chaos that the day had been.
Umiri agreed with a nod, still trembling a little. Taki muttered:
"We should do this more often."
"Go to sleep."
Umiri grumbled, and Taki turned off her phone flashlight, plunging the tent into darkness. Turning her back to the two, she started counting sheep mentally.
One sheep... Two sheep...
"Umiri, I'm going to kill you."
"What did I do this time?"
Taki turned again and turned on the flashlight, illuminating the tent. They were all still awake. Umiri hugged her pillow and tried to move away.
"You kept telling me those horror stories, now I can't sleep." It was embarrassing to admit, but it was true.
"Do you want me to hold your hand?"
Tsk. Taki clicked her tongue, but, in the end, squeezed Umiri's hand tightly. Both were trembling – and not because of the cold. Umiri smiled, a slightly proud smile for holding Taki's hand, which made the brunette immediately regret it.
"If you want, I can sing a lullaby."
Umiri and Taki stared at each other in silence, as if seriously considering the idea.
"If it's nothing macabre, it's fine by me." Taki murmured.
"And very calm." Umiri added.
Uika blinked a few times, surprised. That was a joke, not a suggestion! she thought. Well... now she had to follow through.
She coughed lightly, preparing to sing a small melody – a melody she only heard when she was a child, her mother would put her to bed with her sister and sing a short song, she didn't remember the lyrics very well, but the melody was etched in her memory.
♪ —
Umiri slowly closed her eyes, murmured something, and soon fell asleep. It wasn't long before Taki also started to feel sleepy. The melody was soft and sweet. Uika's voice sounds good, she thought, before finally falling asleep.
___
"Taki-chan."
Taki woke up quickly, grumbling as she put her hand on her back. Sleeping in a tent was not comfortable at all. Her vision was still a little blurry, but, upon becoming conscious, she realized it was already another day. She fixed her gaze on Uika – her hair was still impeccably styled and her face showed no signs of fatigue. Is this girl perfect even when she wakes up?
"Good morning!"
"Hmmm... Good morning." Taki yawned and stretched. She soon noticed someone's absence. "Where's Umiri?"
"Oh! She went to see if the bus has arrived yet!"
"We'd better go too."
Taki quickly got out of the tent, feeling a sharp pain as she stood up. Maybe I slept on a rock without realizing it. Uika followed closely behind, looking a little nervous.
"Hm, Taki-chan... I..."
"Hm? What is it?"
Taki looked at Uika, and maybe because it was morning, she ended up making a somewhat grumpy face. Uika felt like she might stammer again and say it was nothing... but she held firm.
"Well... I wanted to know if you'd like to go to karaoke with me."
Taki blinked a few times, surprised, even a little flattered. Receiving an invitation from Uika Misumi was not in her plans for the week. Surely many girls would like to have that chance.
"Of course." she nodded, a small smile at the corner of her mouth.
Uika's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but then her face lit up with joy. The two stared at each other for a few minutes. In a somewhat... strange way?
___
Omake
"Did you three go camping?" Sakiko asked, while being thankful that Haneoka only took students to parks or the cinema.
Umiri nodded.
"We got pretty close." she commented, crossing her arms.
Sakiko smiled.
"Well, good for you! But tell me, Umiri, you seem a little upset." she teased, leaning in to observe the brunette's face better, which frowned.
"It's nothing."
Umiri didn't want to admit it, but she felt like she was falling behind a bit. For some reason, Taki and Uika seemed to have a lot in common, and they were getting closer. I don't want to be left behind in this friendship... Thinking about it made her chest tighten.
"It must be my imagination then... Umiri, are you free tomorrow?"
"Hmm? Why?"
Umiri softened her expression and turned to face Sakiko better, who maintained a calm smile on her face as she wrapped a finger around a lock of her hair, like a typical rich anime girl.
"I was thinking of going to a cafe... It wouldn't be bad to have company."
"If it's with Togawa-san... I'm free." Umiri murmured, looking away to the other side of the street, her face lightly blushing.
Sakiko sighed happily.